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Bus Crash Kills 5 in Central California

At least five people are dead after a tragic bus crash in central California.

Details of the Fatal California Bus Crash

According to USA Today, at least five people were killed early Tuesday morning when a bus traveling from Mexico to Sacramento crashed into a pole in central valley California.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the accident occurred around 3:25 am. The white charter was traveling north on Highway 99 near Livingston when it struck the pole. About 30 passengers were aboard when the crash occurred.

California Highway Patrol Officer Moises Onsurez told KSEE that the sign pole sheared through the center of the vehicle. Responders airlifted five people to local hospitals, and emergency personnel worked to free others trapped in the wreckage. At least five people died due to the accident.

Police identified the bus driver as Mario David Vasquez, 57, of the Los Angeles area. He suffered major injuries in the crash. Many of the survivors declined to speak with the reporters, mostly because a considerable amount of them only spoke Spanish.

Statistics on Bus Crashes

In 2014, 3,978 large trucks and buses were involved in fatal crashes. This is a 5-percent decrease from 2013. From 2013 to 2014, large truck and bus fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled by all motor vehicles decreased by 4 percent, from 0.143 to 0.138.

There was a 33-percent decrease in the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks or buses between 2004 and 2009, followed by an increase of 20 percent between 2009 and 2013. From 2013 to 2014, the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks or buses decreased by 4.5 percent.

The number of injury crashes involving large trucks or buses decreased steadily from 95,000 in 2004 to 60,000 in 2009 (a decline of 37 percent). This decline was followed by an increase of 55 percent from 2009 to 2014.

On average, from 2004 to 2014, intercity buses accounted for 13 percent, and school buses and transit buses accounted for 41 percent and 33 percent, respectively, of all buses involved in fatal crashes.